(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
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Futures up: Dow 0.6%, S&P 500 0.8%, Nasdaq 1%
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Powell's congressional testimony to start at 10:00 a.m. ET
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Atlanta Fed chief says no rush to cut rates
(Updates with prices)
By Kanchana Chakravarty and Nikhil Sharma
June 24 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on
Tuesday as President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between
Israel and Iran, calming investor nerves after the 12-day
conflict hurt global risk assets and fanned inflation concerns.
Investors are also awaiting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell's congressional testimony later in the day for clues on
the near-term path for interest rates, as inflation is
expected to accelerate
in the coming months.
Trump's ceasefire announcement sent oil prices
to a two-week low as supply concerns triggered by the Middle
East conflict eased. U.S. energy stocks dipped in tandem before
the bell, with Chevron ( CVX ) and Exxon down about 1%
each.
Defense stocks Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) and RTX Corp ( RTX )
fell 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
Trump's call for a truce marked a sharp turnaround after the
U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend and Iran
retaliated by firing missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar.
Hours after the ceasefire declaration, however, Israeli
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iranian missiles were fired in
violation of the agreement and he had ordered the military to
strike Tehran in response. Trump accused both countries of
violating the ceasefire.
"Stocks remain significantly bullish considering everything
else that's going on," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market
analyst at Capital.com.
"Markets just don't think that this is going to be bad
enough to escalate into wider regional conflict or lead to any
impact on economies or global markets."
At 07:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 265 points, or
0.62%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 46 points, or 0.76%, and
Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 220.75 points, or 1%.
The benchmark S&P 500 index remains about 2% below
its all-time highs.
Powell's congressional testimony is scheduled at 10:00 a.m.
ET.
The top Fed policymaker has been on the receiving end of
Trump's criticisms for not cutting interest rates, with the
President hinting at firing Powell or naming a successor soon.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told Reuters the
central bank doesn't need to cut interest rates soon, as
companies plan to raise prices due to higher import taxes and
the job market is still strong.
In contrast, Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman on Monday backed
the resumption of the policy easing cycle in July.
Market participants are pricing in at least two 25-basis
point rate reductions before year-end, with the first cut seen
in September.
Several central bank officials, including Fed Board Governor
Michael Barr and Fed Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari, are
also scheduled to speak later in the day.
Consumer confidence data for June is due at 10:00 a.m.
ET.
Focus later this week will be on the Commerce Department's
final take on first-quarter GDP and its Personal Consumption
Expenditures (PCE) data.
Megacap and growth stocks were trading higher, with Tesla
shares leading gains, up 2.3%. Google-parent Alphabet
rose 1.3% while Amazon.com ( AMZN ) was up 1.7%.
Shares of crypto companies rose after bitcoin hit a one-week
high. Coinbase Global ( COIN ) was up 1.8% and Strategy
advanced 1.4%.
Package delivery firm FedEx ( FDX ) was up nearly 1% ahead
of quarterly results due after the closing bell.
(Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru; Editing by
Devika Syamnath)